Slavery, Race, and the Making of a University in the Capital of the Confederacy

Summary

In 1994, comingled human remains were accidentally discovered during construction at the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) campus of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).  The association of these remains with MCV should not have been unexpected. Found in an abandoned well and dating to the first half of the 19th century, these human remains from people of African descent bear grim witness to the desecration of interred individuals in a bid to advance medical knowledge—knowledge that largely benefited the white population in the capital of the Confederacy. Controversy over race and the history of enslavement also dogged the Monroe Park Campus of VCU, where a parking lot potentially sat atop "Burial Ground for Negroes," both free and enslaved.  This presentation explores issues of how slavery, race, and the material past are considered today at VCU within the broader landscape of enslavement that characterized pre-Emancipation Richmond.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Laboring in the Landscapes of Learning: The Archaeology of Slavery at Virginia’s Colleges and Universities   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

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Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 44